Give to every human being every right that you claim for
yourself

Robert Ingersoll

The “Reunite this Family” term was
coined by the Boston Globe in an editorial in
support of Tim Coco and Genesio “Junior” Oliveira.

“Great strides toward equality for
gays have been made in this country, but the woeful fate of Tim Coco
and Genesio Oliveira shows that thousands of same-sex couples, even in Massachusetts , still aren't really full citizens.”

“Reunite
this Family,” Boston
Globe, Aug. 27, 2007

Temporarily Reunited, Married Mass. Couple Seeks Long-Term
Justice

Tim Coco and Genesio “Junior” Oliveira are a happily and
legally married Massachusetts couple. They were happy, that is, until
August, 2007, when they were forcibly separated by the U.S. government,
which does not recognize their marriage under the 1996 Defense of
Marriage Act (DOMA).

Background

The couple met early in
2002 while Junior, a medical student and Brazilian national, was on
vacation is the United States. After months of telephone calls and
e-mailing, Junior returned to the U.S. to be with Tim. He voluntarily
entered the lengthy immigration process by the fall of that year. As
the law allows, Junior received his Social Security number and work
authorization while his case made its way through the system. Junior
also attended a local community college and became proficient in the
English language – a prerequisite for resuming his medical studies.

During the Justice Department hiring scandal, a conservative
ideologue, Francis L. Cramer, was appointed to hear Junior’s case.
While Judge Cramer found Junior’s testimony to meet the required legal
standard of “credible,” he inexplicably denied the immigration petition
in 2006. A year later, it was reported that Judge Cramer was
inexperienced and not qualified to serve. As the Washington
Post reported June 11, 2007:

The Bush administration
increasingly emphasized partisan political ties over expertise in
recent years in selecting the judges who decide the fate of hundreds of
thousands of immigrants, despite laws that preclude such considerations…

…another failed tax court
nominee, Francis L. Cramer, a former campaign treasurer for Sen. Judd
Gregg (R-N.H.), was appointed as an immigration judge. Cramer’s bid for
a seat on the tax court foundered after the American Bar Association’s
taxation section wrote a rare letter to the Senate Finance Committee,
saying: “We are unable to conclude that he is qualified to serve.”

Cramer was then hired by the
Justice Department’s tax division and was briefly lent to the
department’s Office of Immigration Litigation. Ashcroft approved him as
an immigration judge in March 2004. The Government Accountability
Office, a legislative watchdog, criticized the appointment, saying,
“Converting a Schedule C [political] appointee with less than 6 months
of immigration law experience to an immigration judge position raises
questions about the fairness of the conversion.”[Full
Text from the Washington Post]

Judge Cramer’s decision was rubber stamped by a single judge
of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Junior was ordered to
“voluntarily” depart the U.S. within 60 days and he complied with that
order in August, 2007. Upon his return to Brazil, his visa was
cancelled.

Why DOMA Must Fall

In 2002, same sex marriage was not yet legal in Massachusetts
and any possible legal remedy related to marriage was not available.
Junior and Tim married March 3, 2005 as his case moved through the
system. Despite the marriage, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA),
signed into law by President Bill Clinton, prohibited Tim from
sponsoring Junior as a permanent resident even though heterosexuals may
do so.

The couple begged, fought and undertook legal actions in their
search for relief. They found none until Senator John F. Kerry
courageously intervened (see “Thank You! Junior Returns Home Thanks to Senator John Kerry!”). In June, 2010, the couple was temporarily reunited in
the
United States. Eventually, however, they will have to return to the
battle to make their reunion permanent.

As so-called “advocacy”
groups have largely ignored Tim’s
and Junior’s
plight, the couple has nevertheless influenced the Department of
Homeland Security’s policies in terms of deportation priorities. They
also pushed Attorney General Eric Holder towards their position by long
advocating the AG has the authority—if not the obligation—to reverse
Cramer’s ruling on Junior’s asylum request. Although Holder did not act
on the couple’s
request—and, in fact, reneged on the informal agreement that brought
Junior home—the AG’s acknowledgment of his authority in one DOMA case
seems to have come from their script. Finally, it seems unlikely that
it is a mere coincidence Cramer “retired” about the same time Junior
returned to U.S. soil. The world may never know or appreciate Tim’s
and Junior’s
impact on the debate.